Honey Badgers - Fun Facts about Honey Badgers! Honey Badgers - Fun Facts about Honey Badgers! Fun Facts about Honey Badgers! Most fearless animal in the world The honey badger is also known as the ratel and is native to Africa and Southwest Asia. They belong to the same family class as the weasel, which makes them a member of the Mustelidae family. The honey badger has quite a reputation as a fearless animal, they have been known to chase away young lions and take their food. In 2002 the Guinness Book of Records, declared the Honey Badger the "most fearless animal in the world”. It is primarily a carnivorous species and has few natural predators because of its thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities. Honey badgers are also basically solitary creatures. They will kill and eat snakes, including poisonous or large snakes such as cobras. The honey badger is not particularly fussy when it comes to food they have been known to dig up human corpses in India. Honey badgers are also able to feed on something as tough as a tortoise without any difficulty, due to their powerful jaws and claws.

Not only is the honey badger fearless, but they are also intelligent animals and are one of a few species known to be capable of using tools. The Honey Badger has been observed rolling a log over to the entrance of a cave where he stood on the log to capture a bird that was stuck. The honey badger has a fairly long body, and a thick skin around the neck, an adaptation for fighting. The head is small and flat, with a short muzzle. The eyes are small, and the ears are little more than ridges on the skin, another possible adaptation to avoiding damage while fighting. It said that the only safe grip on Honey Badger is on its back of the neck. Honey badgers are jet black except for the gray mantle, separated by a white stripe, extending from the crown to the base of the tail. The color of the mantle and stripe may vary from one individual to another and often becomes darker with age. The honey badger is also known as the ratel. The Norwegian for honey badger is Honninggraevling, and the French is le blaireau mange-miel. In those parts of Africa where Swahili is spoken, the honey badger is called Nyegere.

Honey Badgers hunt at any time of the day, but become nocturnal in places with high human populations. Honey Badgers are able to dig quickly into the hard earth, they can dig a hole deep enough to hide themselves. A Honey Badger's baby is called a ‘kit’. The females are called ‘sow’ and males ‘boar’. Honey Badger group is called a ‘cete, colony, set or company’. A fully grown adult male can stand as high as 30cm, and be up to 1m in total length. They are normally solitary animals, and are one of the lesser seen African mammals. They have skin which is very thick and rubbery, to defend them from bites, and they are able to catch and eat even the most deadliest and poisonous snakes. Honey Badgers get their name from their love of honey, they seek out not only the honey but also the bee larvae. Honey badgers have a unique relationship with the greater honey guide. The little bird leads a honey badger to a beehive, and then waits good-naturedly for the honey badger to open up the hive and enjoy the honey and bee larvae.

Once the honey badger leaves the hive, the honey guide will then feed on the remaining beeswax. There is just one species of honey badger, Mellivora capensis. Litters of 1-2 young are born in nursery dens lined with grass. A young honey badger reaches adult size at around 8 months of age, but stays with its mother until is at least 14 months of age. Honey badgers can be very aggressive animals, and have few predators. Honey badgers can produce offensive secretions from their anal glands One method Honey Badgers use when attacking larger prey (including humans) is to castrate them and then wait for the animal to weaken or die. Honey badgers have been known to attacked animals as large as sheep, horses, buffaloes, wildebeest and waterbuck. The badgers striking colouration makes them easily recognizable and they could only be confused with the much smaller Striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus) and Striped weasel (Poecilogale albinucha). Honey badgers have a distinctive jog-trot.

Sadly, Honey Badgers are near threatened in South Africa due to attacks by bee- keepers, poultry and sheep farmers. The South African Defense Force named their Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), the Ratel, after the Honey Badger. A female honey badger has a home range of 100-150 square km. The voice of the honey badger is a hoarse "khrya-ya-ya-ya" sound. When mating, males emit loud grunting sounds When attacked by dogs, Honey Badgers scream like bear cubs. The honey badger does not have visible ears. Honey badgers are accomplished climbers and can easily climb up into the uppermost branches of trees to raid bird nests or bee hives. Pale chanting- goshawks have been observed following honey badgers.The badgers are powerful, prolific diggers and repeatedly flush rodents and reptiles from their underground refuges, ideal prey for the goshawks.

{googleAds} The African Honey Badger, world's most fearless animal | InformAfrica.com Share on Facebook Follow on Facebook Add to Google+ Connect on Linked in Subscribe by Email Print This Post InformAfrica – The Honey badger, also known as ratel, is a tenacious small carnivorous animal that has a reputation for being “Africa’s most fearless animal despite its small size”. It is even listed as the “most fearless animal in the world” in the 2004 Guinness Book of Records. The Honey badger has a crazy addiction to honey. The fearless animal is so peculiar that it stands out in a separate genus, and a separate subfamily. Official science classifies this predator to the family Mustelidae. (Stock Photo: Animal world) Breeding Habit of Honey Badgers Mating and birth of honey badgers take place five or six months, but the immediate pregnancy is probably shorter. The litter honey-badger are two to four babies, conducting his first week in lined with dry vegetation structure. Young animals remain with the mother for a long time, often more than a year. Life expectancy of honey badger in the wild is unknown, in captivity, it is up to 26 years.

(Stock photo: Animal world) In southern Africa, honey badgers do not have a breeding season and cubs are born throughout the year. Contrary to information in some field guides, badgers do not regularly have more than two cubs at a time and in the Kalahari dessert , badgers raised only one cub after a gestation of six to eight weeks. The cubs are born naked and blind in a hole prepared by the female and she will typically move the cub to a new den every two to five days, by carrying the cub in her mouth. The cub develops slowly with its eyes only opening after two months, and will emerge from the den and accompany its mother on short foraging bouts at three months of age, by which time it has the adult’s black and white colouration. The cub’s mantle is usually far whiter than its mother. Research in the southern Kalahari dessert showed that cubs stayed with their mothers for a minimum of 14 months, before becoming independent. This is in marked contrast to the Eurasian badger which may become independent at 3 months.

This long period of dependency is needed for the cub to learn how to hunt efficiently as digging and climbing require a degree of co-ordination and technique that is lacking in the juveniles for the first eight months. The Honey badger’s techniques for catching rodents in their extensive tunnel systems and escape holes and killing poisonous snakes require skills that must be learnt from their mothers. Young Honey badgers may reach an adult size within eight months and a son may be far larger that his mother. When one sees two badgers foraging together in the wild, these are usually a mother and her cub, rather than a “pair”, even when one badger is substantially larger than the other. Honey Badger’s Eating Habit In this photo, the Honey badger feeds on an African Puff adder snake. The only place where the snake may bite the Honey badger is its open face. But even if it succeeds, the most powerful venom only causes swelling and overthrows the Honey badger down for a couple of hours. Then the swelling subsides and the honey badger is again ready for battle. (Stock Photo) Honey badgers are carnivorous animal with an extremely wide diet. More than sixty species of prey were recorded from the southern Kalahari alone.

Badgers eat a host of smaller food items like honeybees, insect larvae, beetles, scorpions, lizards, rodents and birds. They will catch the larger reptiles like leguaans, crocodiles (1 meter) and pythons (3meters) and include the highly venomous adders, cobras and black mamba in their diet. Larger mammals like the Springhare, polecat and particularly young foxes, jackals, antelope and wild cats, are also caught. They locate their prey predominantly by their acute sense of smell and catch most of their prey through digging. As many as fifty holes may be dug in a single foraging period and badgers may cover distances that exceed 40 kilometers in a 24 hour period. Honey badgers are accomplished climbers and can easily climb up into the uppermost branches of trees to raid bird nests or bee hives. In the Kalahari, they have been seen raiding various raptor nests, including the Pale Chanting Goshawk, which is frequently seen in association with badgers. As their name suggests, badgers have always been associated with honey yet it is the highly nutritious bee brood they eat.

While bee brood does not form a necessary part of their diet they will go to great lengths to raid honeybee hives in search of bee brood when it is available(see badgers and bee-keepers) and may cause a lot of damage to apiaries in the process. Badgers will also dig out the larvae belonging to solitary bee species. In the Kalahari badgers were rarely seen drinking water at the available waterholes, and derived most of their water requirements from their food and from the Tsama melon (Citrullus lanatus) during seasons when they were available. Honey badgers may also pirate food from other carnivores and will scavenge from the kills of larger animals although they are primarily hunters of their own food. There appear to be strong regional , seasonal and indvidual differences in diet. Concluding Facts about The Honey Badger Honey badgers are well adapted to their digging lifestyle and have a powerful and stocky build, with no external ears, a broad muscular back, bowlegged front legs and formidable fore claws that may reach 40mm in length. It’s not called a honey badger because of its sweet nature.

The honey badger of the Kalahari, is so fierce it is officially listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless animal on earth. Scientific name: Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776) Common names: Honey badger, ratel, honey ratel. VIDEO 1: Honey Badger-The Most Fearless Animal on Earth VIDEO 2: A Leopard Kills an Old Female Honey Badger ____________ Citation: Honey Badger (Ratel) | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants SPECIES: capensis ABOUT Honey (badger), is that you? The honey badger is part of the weasel family, related to skunks, otters, ferrets, and other badgers. Its proper name is ratel, but it gets the common name honey badger from what seems to be its favorite food: honey. Yet what the animal is actually looking to eat are the bee larvae found in the honey! This tough little critter has a stocky, flattened body with short, strong legs, along with long claws on the front feet for digging and defense.

The honey badger's hair is thick and coarse, mostly black, with a wide gray-white stripe that stretches across its back from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. Does it remind you of a skunk? The honey badger also has a gland at the base of its tail that stores a stinky liquid just as powerful as that of its look-alike. The smelly stuff is used to mark territory, but if the honey badger is frightened or threatened, it drops a “stink bomb” rather than spraying the odor like its skunk relative does. The honey badger's odor doesn’t last long, like that of a skunk’s, but it still gets its message across: “Leave me alone!” Does the honey badger have a sweet personality? No! It would be hard to find a more quarrelsome animal than the honey badger. It doesn’t start fights it can’t finish, and it makes an impressive foe. Also, the honey badger's skin is tough and loose, allowing the animal to twist around and bite an opponent that has grabbed it by the back of its neck.

Combine that with a massive skull, strong teeth, and that awful odor, and you have an animal nobody wants to mess with! HABITAT AND DIET Honey badgers are native to areas of Africa and Asia, from southern Morocco to Africa’s southern tip, and western Asia’s Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and western India. They live mainly in dry areas but are also found in forests and grasslands. Honey badgers are good swimmers and can climb trees. With its long claws, the honey badger digs burrows up to 9 feet (3 meters) long and up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep. A single tunnel ends in a chamber, which is usually bare, where the honey badger rests. But when it comes to making a home, honey badgers aren’t afraid to use what’s already available to them: rock crevices and holes under tree roots, old termite mounds, or the dens of other animals such as aardvarks. Burrows made by Cape foxes, bat-eared foxes, yellow mongooses, and springhares are also taken over by the honey badger.

As nocturnal creatures, honey badgers are extremely secretive and difficult to observe in the wild. They sleep most of the day, curling up into a ball to protect their face and belly. What's on the menu? Everything! The honey badger has an appetite for food ranging from small mammals and the young of large mammals to birds, reptiles, insects, carrion, and even a little vegetation, including juicy fruits. In zoos, honey badgers receive a commercial meat diet for zoo carnivores, mice, mealworms, and crickets. They get a bone to chew on once a week and are offered some fruit, mostly as a treat on hot days; honeydew is a favorite. And, of course, a scoop of honey is always appreciated! FAMILY LIFE Mostly solitary, honey badgers maintain loose home ranges that often overlap. They may meet up at favorite foraging areas, where they sniff each other and roll around to scent mark the ground. Honey badgers can grunt, squeak, hiss, and whine, and are known for their deep and ominous growl. The female honey badger is left alone to give birth and raise her young.

The expectant mother digs a nursery chamber and lines it with grass for her baby. After a gestation period of six to eight weeks, one cub (rarely two) is born. The newborn is hairless with pink skin and closed eyes. At one week of age, its skin begins to change from pink to gray; two weeks later, fine gray hair begins to grow. The familiar white stripe appears about a week after that. By the time the cub is close to three months old, it has become a perfect miniature of its parents. It reaches adult size at 6 months is not ready to go off on its own until 14 months to 2 years of age, as the youngster needs time to develop those important hunting skills. AT THE ZOO When the San Diego Zoo received its first pair of honey badgers, a subspecies called the Vernay’s ratel, in 1998, a new challenge awaited the keepers. While they were aware of the housing and nutritional needs of this species, the animals’ aggressiveness was a challenge. However, the opportunity to work with a new species in a collection is one of the rewards of being a keeper, and our keepers were eager to learn as much as possible.

The animals spent a good deal of time in a nest box during the day, coming out at night to investigate their new home, so keepers didn’t see much of them. Imagine their surprise when a newborn honey badger was found in the nest box on January 11, 1999! Apparently, the female had been about halfway through her pregnancy when she arrived in San Diego. Hers was the first birth of a Vernay’s ratel in the Western Hemisphere. Over the years, we’ve had nine more babies born here. Honey badgers will be featured in the Zoo's new Africa Rocks exhibit, set to open in summer 2017. CONSERVATION Honey badgers are considered endangered in parts of their range, due largely to human encroachment, which reduces their food supply. The animal’s sweet tooth does not make it popular with people who raise bees for their honey. Some beekeepers kill any honey badgers they see just to protect their beehives. However, since honey badgers can’t jump, many beekeepers have found that simply securing the beehives a few feet higher off the ground discourages honey badgers from climbing up to reach them and keeps the bees and their honey safe.

Many beekeepers in Africa are now producing “badger-friendly honey”—it’s a sweet deal for all! LIFE SPAN Honey badger videos, photos and facts - Mellivora capensis | ARKive Top Honey badger biology The honey badger is typically a solitary forager with a varied, mostly carnivorous diet. Small mammals make up the majority of prey, but honey badgers have also been known to eat reptiles, including venomous snakes, and small birds. Insect grubs, insects, and scorpions are also an important part of a honey badger’s diet at certain times of the year (7) , and roots, bulbs, berries and fruits may also be consumed (2) . The contents of bee hives are also a major food source, which the honey badger reportedly tackles by using its anal glands to fumigate the bees, causing them to either flee or become inactive, and then its powerful claws to break up the hive (8) (9) . Unlike closely related species, (10) , male honey badgers have huge home ranges that overlap and include the smaller home ranges of up to thirteen females.

This behaviour relates to its polygynous mating system, where one male will mate with multiple females (11) . Although the honey badger generally lives a solitary life, a female honey badger is often accompanied by a single cub which is completely dependant on her. The single young is born in a burrow, dug by the honey badger, after a gestation period of no more than 50 to 70 days. The female raises the young alone for 12 to 16 months, at which time the cub becomes independent. Due to the long period for which the young is dependent on the female, birth intervals are longer than 12 months, and no distinct breeding pattern exists within this species (12) . Top Honey badger range The honey badger is widely distributed throughout Africa south of the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, Western Asia and the Indian Peninsula (5) . Top Honey badger threats This species is currently not considered to be at risk of extinction (1) . However, in some areas the honey badger is being trapped and snared by poachers, small livestock farmers, and, due to the damage it can inflict on bee hives, bee farmers (1) (8) .

The skin and claws are also used in traditional medicine, as they are believed to confer the fearlessness and ferocity of the honey badger (1) . Top Honey badger conservation The honey badger is found in a number of protected areas, such as national parks, throughout its range and in some countries it is protected by law (1) . To reduce conflict between bee farmers and this species, it has been recommended that bee hives are secured at least one metre above ground, which can dramatically reduced the amount of damage inflicted by the honey badger (1) (6) . Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi is a principal sponsor of ARKive. EAD is working to protect and conserve the environment as well as promoting sustainable development in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Honey Badger Facts | Honey Badger Diet | DK Find Out Honey badger Toggle text The honey badger, also known as a ratel, is a bad-tempered animal that lives in parts of Asia and Africa. The honey badger sometimes attacks animals the size of buffalos if they come too close to its burrow. It has a big skull with strong teeth, and its massive front paws have long claws.

Tough skin protects the badger from serious harm and it is usually not bothered by bigger predators or snake bites. It hunts small animals on the ground, but loves honey too and is perfectly equipped to get hold of it. It uses its strong claws to rip open beehives, and relies on its thick skin to protect it from the angry, stinging bees. Digging claws Digging claws The long front claws of the honey badger are well adapted for digging and breaking open bees’ nests. Defensive Defensive weapon The honey badger can produce a stinking liquid from glands (small sacs) near its bottom, which helps stop predators from getting too close. Black-and-white coat Black-and-white coat The distinctive pattern of the aggressive honey badger may warn other animals to stay away, just like the yellow-and-black pattern of a stinging wasp. The honey badger’s fur is very thick to protect it from angry bee stings. Tough skin Tough skin The honey badger’s skin is thick, but so loose that it can twist around to bite anything that grabs hold of the back of its neck.

Badger Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia Animal Facts Encyclopedia badger Facts Portrait of an American Badger Badgers are stoutly built, powerful and cantankerous carnivores. There are eight species of badger ranging across several continents including North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. All the badger species are fossorial, creating many-chambered underground dens, and spending much of their lives below ground. Badgers do allot of stalking at night, but are seen out and about in the daytime as well. They are excellent hunters of earth-dwelling prey including rabbits, groundhogs, ground squirrels, mice and snakes. Some of these animals can be fairly large in comparison to the badger, but are no match for this enormously aggressive predator. The badgers sense of smell is very powerful and they can detect an animal in its burrow through soil as well as snow cover. When they locate their prey, they dig rapidly directly down into the animals den in a devastating surprise attack from above. Badgers also eat a variety of insects, grubs and vegetable matter including fruits and roots. The word "badger" comes from the French word "becheur" meaning "digger" and is extremely appropriate.

Everything about a badgers body says "dig". It has massive, shovel-like front paws with five powerful toes, each tipped with curved claws as strong as steel. They can move yards of dirt in minutes, barreling in head first with long digging strokes of the front legs and quick, earth-moving shoves backwards with the rear legs. The rear paws and claws are smaller and designed to doze away the soil that has already been loosened and dislodged by the front feet. Badgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes from all the flying soil, and thick guard hairs in their nostrils and ears to keep them clear of debris. A badger being pursued by a large predator such as a wolf or mountain lion can dig backwards, fangs facing out for protection and disappear beneath the soil in a matter of seconds. In addition, the badger has very thick fur and loose skin which allows it to twist around, even when having been grabbed from behind by a predator, to defend itself with its impressive canines. Most badgers live solitary lives once weaned from their mother, but have overlapping territories and may occasionally run into each other and socialize..

- Badger Facts The american or new world badger American Badger The American badger is a fixture across the plains and woodlands of the central United States. They range into Canada and Mexico as well, but the midwestern plains are their most common residence. These badgers have a flattened appearance with a remarkably broad torso, short, powerful limbs, and massive front paws and claws. They have a grizzled grey body with whiter undersides and dark brown or black legs. The stripe down the center of the face is narrow compared to the European badger, and the skull and cheeks are wider with low-set ears and black cheek patches. And badgers have stout tails of a few inches in length. The jaw of the American badger sets into the skull in a unique notch that locks it to the upper mandible and makes it impossible to be dislocated. Many of the animals the badger hunts are powerfully built diggers as well, such as the muscular groundhog and rugged prairie dog, who will wedge their sturdy legs against the walls of their dens trying to avoid extraction. The specialized jaw, along with the badgers stout neck and shoulders helps the badger to dislodge its quarry.

It is occasionally reported that badgers and coyotes team up to hunt, but what actually occurs is that the always "wily" coyote waits at alternative exits for something to bolt loose from a burrow that the badger is invading. If the coyote snares an escaping gopher it does not share with the badger, and the badger certainly does not share with the coyote. The American badger has numerous potential enemies on the Western plains, such as mountain lions, wolves and the ever annoying coyote. These animals may out weigh a badger by three or four to one, but an adult badger is as fierce a combatant as one may encounter and more often than not, sends its agitator running for the hills. - Badger Facts the european or old world badger European or new world badger The European badger is also known as the Old World badger and the Eurasian badger.As these names imply, it ranges throughout most of Europe and some parts of Western Asia. The European badger has a more elongated head, a much wider white stripe down the center of the face, and appears slightly more upright than the American badger, which tends to have a somewhat "flattened" look.

Although a solitary animal in much of its range, the European badgers of Britain and some other territories are the most social of the badger species and live in groups of 5 to 20 individuals in enormous dens that may have up to thirty different chambers and 1/2 a mile of tunnels. Some of these burrows called "setts" are decades old and are occasionally shared by other animals including red foxes and even raccoons. European badgers also tend to travel on well-worn trails, some of which have been in use for hundreds of years. This is the largest of the badger species reaching as much as 40 pounds in the late summer as it fattens up for a potentially hard winter. Badgers do not hibernate, but will enter a state known as torpor if the weather gets rough and snows are too deep to hunt. Torpor is a deep sleep that may lasts for up to three weeks but does not involve the extreme slowing of heartbeat that actual hibernation involves. The European badger is slightly less aggressive then the other badger species and does not take prey quite as large as the other badgers, actually spending long hours digging for their favorite food- earthworms.

- Badger Facts This Form cannot be submitted until the missing fields (labelled below in red) have been filled in Vote Here for Your Favorite Animal! Pick Your Fav! badger reproduction Badgers come together to mate in the late summer and early autumn and both males and females may mate with multiple partners. Once the female is impregnated, the development of the embryos is delayed over the winter. The eggs don't fully attach to the uterus until early spring. This is a process known as "delayed implantation". In late winter or early spring, the eggs become implanted in the uteran wall and begin to develop. Although the entire pregnancy takes about 7 months from fertilization to delivery, the eggs do not develop at all for the first 5 months, and then, once implanted, take about 6 weeks to fully grow. Females give birth deep inside their burrows to 2 to 5 cubs. The newborns are blind and only very finely furred, and completely dependent on their mother. She may leave every few days to hunt, but returns quickly. The mother badger may change dens once or twice during these critical weeks to ensure the safety of her family.

She carries each cub one at a time to the new sette. Baby badgers mature quickly and begin chewing on kills their mother provides for them, sometimes even before their eyes are open. They learn to hunt for themselves by the time they are 4 months old, and head out on their own at about 6 months old. - Badger Facts the honey badger or ratel Honey Badger The honey badger is in a separate genus from the American and European badgers, and is actually more closely related to wolverines and weasels. Nevertheless, the honey badger is exceedingly "badger-like", and has a reputation for being one of the most fearless and relentless animals on Earth. Honey badgers are native to most of Africa and are known there as "ratels". This word has the same meaning as the word "rattle" and refers to the sound that these badgers make when they are excited. Honey badgers eat a large variety of prey, including young monkeys, but are especially fond of honey, of course.

They will seek out and attack honey bee hives with incredible determination, accepting hundreds of stings while they eat honey, honey comb and their favorite, the bee larvae which is located at the center of the hive. Honey badgers are not only able to accept stings from bees, but can also handle bites from the worlds deadliest snakes, like puff adders, mambas and cobras, which they happily hunt, kill and devour. The honey badger is not necessarily immune to these venoms, but rather the badgers skin is so thick and tough that most bee stingers and snake fangs cannot penetrate it. If the venom of a large snake does get into the system, the badger may be killed, but often just has a coma-like "down time" while it recovers, and before it finishes off its snake dinner. The honey badger has a high metabolism and spends lots of energy crashing around its territory looking for things to consume. They can, occasionally, be killed by lions, possibly leopards, but these predators don't usually take the risk involved in subduing an animals as formidable as the honey badger, which is commonly considered the fiercest animal on the planet.

- Honey Badger Facts a few more badger facts A group of badgers is called a "cette" Badgers live in huge underground burrows that can include up to 1/2 mile of tunnels The honey badger is widely recognized as the most fearless- and fiercest - animal in the world. The honey badger can survive a bite from a King cobra, and then eat the snake. Badgers can dig both forwards and backwards and often dig backwards disappearing straight into the ground when confronted by an enemy Badgers do not hibernate but may enter a state called "torpor" where they sleep deeply for up to three weeks The word "badger" comes from the French word "becheur" which means "digger" Badgers have a third eyelid that protects their eyes while they dig.- Badger Facts!

Scientific Classification: Honey Badger: The Animal Files 26 Yrs (in Captivity) Main Characteristics Honey Badgers have a body length between 60 and 77 cms (23.5 - 30 inches), a tail length between 20 and 30 cms (8 - 12 inches) and they weigh between 7 and 13 kgs (15 - 29 lbs). They have a stocky build and they are silver grey on the top of their head, back and tail and black elsewhere. Habitat Honey Badgers can be found in the dry grasslands and moist deciduous forests of Africa and western and southern Asia. Diet Honey Badgers are fierce predators and they feed on snakes , porcupines, hares , scorpions, termites, earth worms, tortoises , amphibians , lizards , fruits, berries, honey and carrion . Breeding Little is known about reproduction in Honey Badgers. They have a litter of 1 - 4 young which the female relocates to a new den every 2 - 5 days.

The youngsters venture from the den at 3 months old and they are almost their full adult size at 8 months old. They tend to stay with their mother for over a year before they disperse. Predators Honey Badgers have no natural predators. They have a reputation of being fearless and few animals will enter into a fight with a fully grown Honey Badger. Subspecies Subspecies of the Honey Badger include: Mellivora capensis abyssinica Honey badger (ratel) | San Diego Zoo - Kids San Diego Zoo Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and India Habitat: Grasslands, forests, mountains, and deserts Food: Snakes, scorpions, birds, insects, small mammals, vegetation, and fruits Size: 29 to 38 inches long, plus 5 to 9 inches for tail Babies: Usually 1 born at a time. Babies are called cubs. Honey badgers have a super strong immunity to the venom of snakes and scorpions.

Have No Fear The honey badger, also known as a ratel, is a strong, smart, and fierce mammalA warm-blooded animal with a backbone that breathes air, and has at least some hair at some point during its life. The females have glands that produce milk, which they feed to their young.. Its stocky, flattened body has short, strong legs and clawsThe fingernails of an animal, such as a bear or cat. They help to grab prey. In birds, they're called talons. on the front feet that are perfectly suited for digging. They are pros at making burrows to sleep in. Also, underground insects and rodents don't stand a chance of escape when a honey badger digs after them! In fact, keepers at the Safari Park even reinforced the area under the home of Benzy, their honey badger animalAny living thing that is not a plant. Most animals can move about freely. All use plants or other animals as food. All have sensory organs. ambassador, so she wouldn't be able to dig her way out. The honey badger’s coat is thick and coarse, mostly black, with a wide, grayish-white stripe along its back from head to tailtip.

Does that remind you of another animalAny living thing that is not a plant. Most animals can move about freely. All use plants or other animals as food. All have sensory organs.? That's right, a skunk! And they don't just look like a skunk, they can stink like one, too. When a predatorAn animal that hunts and kills other animals for its food. like a lion, leopard, or hyena tries to attack a honey badger, it releases a "stink bomb" that helps keep trouble away. That two-tone coat covers skin that also helps the animalAny living thing that is not a plant. Most animals can move about freely. All use plants or other animals as food. All have sensory organs. survive. Not only is its skin tough, it’s loose enough that a honey badger can turn around in it and bite its attacker. And speaking of bites, the honey badger can survive the bites of some very dangerous creatures. They eat scorpions and snakes, and they have an unusually strong immunity to venom. That means that even if the scorpion stings or the snakeAn animal with a long, scaly body and no arms, legs, or wings.

Snakes have backbones and are cold-blooded. bites it, the honey badger doesn't die as other animals might. Honey badger honey badger The honey badger at Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary is named Buksie. The Honey badger Mellivora capensis, is also known as the ratel. The Honey badger is a species of mustelid native to Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. Despite its name, the honey badger does not closely resemble other badger species, instead it bears more anatomical similarities to weasels. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN owing to its extensive range and general environmental adaptations. It is primarily a carnivorous species, and has few natural predators because of its thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities. Etymology Ratel is an Afrikaans word, possibly derived from the Middle Dutch word for rattle, honeycomb (either because of its cry or its taste for honey). Taxonomy The Honey badger is the only member of the genus Mellivora.

Although it was initially assigned to the badger group in the 1860s, it is now generally accepted that they bear very few similarities to the subfamily Melinae, instead being much closer to the marten family. Differences between Mellivora and Melinae include a different dentition. Though not related to the wolverine, which is a large-sized deviant of the marten family, the honey badger can be considered an analogous form of weasel ( polecat ). The species first appeared during the middle Pliocene in Asia. Its closest relation was the extinct genus Eomellivora, which is known from the upper Miocene , and evolved into several different species throughout the whole Pliocene in both the Old and New World. Subspecies As of 2005, 12 subspecies are recognised. Points taken into consideration in assigning different subspecies include size and the extent of whiteness or greyness on the back. Facial profile and anal glands The Honey badger has a fairly long body, but is distinctly thick set and broad across the back. Its skin is remarkably loose, and allows it to turn and twist freely within it.

The skin around the neck is 6 millimetres (0.24 in) thick, an adaptation to fighting conspecifics. The head is small and flat, with a short muzzle. The eyes are small, and the ears are little more than ridges on the skin, another possible adaptation to avoiding damage while fighting. The Honeybadger has short and sturdy legs, with five toes on each foot. The feet are armed with very strong claws, which are short on the hind legs and remarkably long on the forelimbs. It is a partially plantigrade animal whose soles are thickly padded and naked up to the wrists. The tail is short and is covered in long hairs, save for below the base. Adults measure 23 to 28 centimetres (9.1 to 11 in) in shoulder height and 68–75 cm in body length, with females being smaller than males. Males weigh 12 to 16 kilograms (26 to 35 lb) while females weigh 9.1 kg. Skull length is 13.9–14.5 cm in males and 13 cm for females. There are two pairs of mammae.

The Honey badger possesses an anal pouch which, unusually among mustelids, is reversible, a trait shared with hyenas. The smell of the pouch is reportedly "suffocating", and may assist in calming bees when raiding beehives. The skull bears little similarity to that of the European badger, and greatly resembles a larger version of a marbled polecat skull. The skull is very solidly built, with that of adults having no trace of an independent bone structure. The braincase is broader than that of dogs. The Honey badger's teeth often display signs of irregular development, with some teeth being exceptionally small, set at unusual angles or are absent altogether. Honey badgers of the subspecies signata have a second lower molar on the left side of their jaw, but not the right. Although it feeds predominantly on soft foods, the honey badger's cheek teeth are often extensively worn. The canine teeth are exceptionally short for carnivores. The tongue has sharp, backward-pointing papillae which assist it in processing tough foods. The winter fur is long (being 40–50 mm long on the lower back), and consists of sparse, coarse, bristle-like hairs lacking underfur.

Hairs are even sparser on the flanks, belly and groin. The summer fur is shorter (being only 15 mm long on the back) and even sparser, with the belly being half bare. The sides of the heads and lower body are pure black in colour. A large white band covers their upper bodies, beginning from the top of their heads down to the base of their tails. Honey badgers of the cottoni subspecies are unique in being completely black in colour. Behaviour and habits Although mostly solitary, honey badgers may hunt together in pairs during the May breeding season. Little is known of the honey badger's breeding habits. It is thought that its gestation period lasts six months, usually resulting in two cubs, which are born blind. They vocalise through plaintive whines. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown, though captive individuals have been known to live for approximately 24 years. Honey badgers live alone in self-dug holes. They are skilled diggers, being able to dig tunnels into hard ground in 10 minutes. These burrows usually only have one passage and a nesting chamber and are usually not large, being only 1–3 metres in length.

They do not place bedding into the nesting chamber. Although they usually dig their own burrows, they may take over disused aardvark and warthog holes or termite mounds. Honey badgers are intelligent animals and are one of a few species known to be capable of using tools. In the 1997 documentary series Land of the Tiger, a honey badger in India was filmed making use of a tool; the animal rolled a log and stood on it to reach a kingfisher fledgling stuck up in the roots coming from the ceiling in an underground cave. Honey badgers are notoriously fearless and tough animals, having been known to savagely attack their enemies when escape is impossible. Bee stings, porcupine quills, and animal bites rarely penetrate the Honey Badger's skin. If horses, cattle, or Cape buffalos intrude upon a Ratel's burrow, the Ratel will attack them. They are tireless in combat and can wear out much larger animals in physical confrontations.

The aversion of most predators toward hunting honey badgers has led to the theory that the countershaded coats of cheetah kittens evolved in imitation of the honey badger's colouration in order to ward off predators. The voice of the honey badger is a hoarse "khrya-ya-ya-ya" sound. When mating, males emit loud grunting sounds. Cubs vocalise through plaintive whines. Diet Next to the Wolverine , the Honey badger has the most specialised diet of weasels. In undeveloped areas, honey badgers may hunt at any time of the day, though they become nocturnal in places with high human populations. When hunting, Honey badgers trot with their fore-toes turned in, moving at the same speed as a young man[clarification needed]. Honey badgers favor Bee Honey and will often search for beehives to get it, which earns them the name "Honey Badger". They often follow a bird called the Honeyguide (which eats bee larvae) to find the beehives. They are also carnivorous and will eat insects, frogs, tortoises, rodents, turtles, lizards, eggs, and birds.

Honey Badgers have even been known to chase away young Lions and take their kills. They will eat fruit and vegetables such as berries, roots and bulbs. They may hunt frogs and rodents such as gerbils and ground squirrels by digging them out of their burrows. Honey badgers are able to feed on tortoises without difficulty, due to their powerful jaws. They kill and eat snakes, even highly venomous or large ones such as cobras. They have been known to dig up human corpses in India. They devour all parts of their prey, including skin, hair, feathers, flesh and bones, holding their food down with their forepaws. When seeking vegetable food, they lift stones or tear bark from trees. Range The species ranges through most of Sub-Saharan Africa from the Western Cape, South Africa, to southern Morocco and southwestern Algeria and outside Africa through Arabia, Iran and western Asia to Turkmenistan and the Indian Peninsula. It is known to range from sea level to as much as 2,600 m asl in the Moroccan High Atlas and 4,000 m asl in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains. Relationships with humans Honey badgers often become serious poultry predators.

Because of their strength and persistence, they are difficult to deter. They are known to rip thick planks from hen-houses or burrow underneath stone foundations. Surplus killing is common during these events, with one incident resulting in the death of 17 Muscovy ducks and 36 pullets. Because of the toughness and looseness of their skin, honey badgers are very difficult to kill with dogs. Their skin is hard to penetrate, and its looseness allows them to twist and turn on their attackers when held. The only safe grip on a honey badger is on the back of the neck. The skin is also tough enough to resist several machete blows. The only sure way of killing them quickly is through a blow to the skull with a club or a shot to the head with a gun, as their skin is almost impervious to arrows and spears. In popular culture The viral video Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger ( click here to view the clip ) became a popular Internet meme in 2011, attaining over 40 million views on YouTube as of March 2012.

The video features footage from the Nat Geo WILD network of honey badgers fighting jackals, invading beehives, and eating cobras. The video includes a comical voiceover by "Randall" in a vulgar and sometimes exasperated narration, including lines like "Honey badger don't care!" Did you know? A honey badger appears in a running gag in the 1989 film The Gods Must Be Crazy II. honey badger known in Afrikaans as a Ratel honey badger face

Question: What animal is also known as the honey-badger?
Answer: Ratel